Script for Film Opening

A script is an essential tool for any filmmaker/production company in that it provides clarification and guidance to, not only the actors performing in the piece, but also to the production staff such as cameramen and lighting crews as although they will not be performing dialogue or 'in role' so to speak- they will still be performing aspects of the film production all be it different ones to 'performers.' They will still require guidance as to how best to perform their role. A script acts as a basis- or foundation- from which the crew and actors can stimulate and springboard developments from an original, guiding source. This is why a script is so fundementally important as it acts as a guiding light to keep all team and crew members on track and not become deviated too much from the original story and ideas discussed at an earlier pre production stage.
  

Old Habits Die Hard script

(Tracking establishing shot of the main character, Toby Scott, commentary over the top as audio track)

(Cut to master shot of sharp fencing, symbolic.)

(Homeless people crouching in litter and rubbish, long shot with a slight pan)

(Long shot that develops into a two shot, showing two main characters)

(Conversation between the two men begins)

[Dialogue]

Creegan: You’re back for more then? (Gruffly)  I haven’t seen you in bloody ages.

Toby: Not exactly Creegan

Creegan: You complaining Toby, or… something else?

Toby: No, not really far from it. I love the hits man, but only when they last. I’ve had to make a choice mate….

Creegan: (Suspiciously) What choice? This better not be heading where I think it is, or you know what will happen. (Reaches into pocket threateningly)

Toby: No... I mean the hits mate. They get fewer and fewer every time. (Maddening slightly) I need this, I crave it. But, I’ve come to a bit of ‘rough luck’ shall we say.

Creegan: What ‘rough luck’ is this? A bribe to hand me in to the pigs?! You got another thing coming mate!

(Two shot, slight pan, argument begins.)

Toby: If you think I’d hand you into that lot I could’ve done it. The offer was open for me...

Creegan: ... And you went and fucking took it. And they say I’m a lowlife!!

(Creegan pushes Toby against the wall.)

Toby: ...but I refused the offer despite the money. The wealth of friendship is worth far more than any amount of money …even in our world.

Creegan: Don’t you lecture me on your petty bullshit. Your words are filth; and so are you!! You’re scum; Scott!  Scum that’s about to be wiped off the face of the Earth!

Toby: And I thought you couldn’t sink any lower, I guess I was wrong.

(Zooms in to over the shoulder shot)

(Toby breaks free, enters chase)

(Toby runs out of tunnel, Creegan follows later after being punched)

(Match on action shot of Creegan getting phone out and dialling a number into his phone)

(Shot reverse shot of Creegan talking onto his phone)

(Close up of Toby’s legs as he runs down the street. Long/mid shot of Toby running down the street, commentary audio under the action) 

Toby: When you’ve been in the ‘game’ as long as I have you begin to realise when shit is going down. If you fail to notice it quick enough you could be fighting for your life. That’s what the drugs do; turn a simple bit of fun into roulette between life and death; a numbers game, luck of the draw as some might say.

Show wide shot of different trees. Cutting and splicing in-between them to show a sense of mystery and foreshadowing. Cut to: shot of forest floor, focussing on mud and dirt on the track. Use low angle shot to show. Audio: rustling of leaves.

Cut to: tracking shot of running feet. First, show the leading pair of feet and then those of the pursuer.

Cut to wide shot showing curve in forest track, shoot the shot from here, now showing the two characters running towards the camera and track them round the bend, kicking up dirt to show urgency and speed of the characters.  Have camera follow the characters in handheld steadicam shot to show a sense of chaos and urgency.

Pursuer grabs his target by the scruff of the neck, throwing him to floor.

Pursuer should be shown as the antagonist of the opening, dark apparel and scars to show this. Pursuer is a violent criminal.

Pursuer/Dealer/ Antagonist; Creegan Donohue.

Protagonist; Toby Scott

Creegan turning over Scott on the ground, POV Shot.

Creegan: You’re finished Scott, you’ve changed the balance forever. Now I’m gonna kill you, for all the fucking misery you’ve caused me

Cut to: webcam shot of main character, focussing his webcam and re-adjusting the lens.

 

Toby: Is this thing on?... (Sits back in chair, relaxing, but on edge)  Right, ok (Clears throat) Yeah what you just saw, I mean before I (indicates himself with a wave of the hand) came in, was the day, the day, (pauses, zoning out slightly) my life changed and not…. (Pause, considering his word choice) not in a good way. We’re all born different, yeah ok I get that- we all make different choices in our lives, good or bad, proud or regretted; I know I’ve certainly made some choices in my life that I’ve lived to regret even to this day. We just gotta face every new day as it comes, even if that day is the darkest day we may ever face. That day, my world changed forever, I… I… killed a man not out of hatred or greed. Just defiance. Defying and standing up to his oppression. He was making a living off other people’s addiction. He had to be stopped. I don’t defend what I did; I just hope it’s easier for people to understand.

(Fade to black; end credits roll)      

Codes and Conventions of the Thriller Genre

 

To my mind, the Thriller genre of film is one of the most exciting genres of film to watch; let alone make. In this post I will be analysing and examining what makes Thriller films so successful and exciting to watch as a viewer. As our film opening is a hybrid Social Realistic thriller. (i.e.: it contains elements of both a thriller and social realism films or a mix of both genre defining elements from both areas of film), I have conducted the following research into the codes and conventions of the thriller genre so that our film can conform to both of it's parenting genres as closely as possible.
Thriller films, in particular their openings conform to the following defining, key characteristics that unquestionably mark the film out as belonging to that of the "Thriller" genre:

Thrillers are all about creating an air of mystery and suspense for the viewer, particularly within the opening moments of the film, thrillers must fulfil an obligation in that they must begin whetting the appetite for viewers who are waiting in hungry anticipation as to what will happen next. It is this steady increase and build up in tension that either draws the viewer in, hungry for more with their appetite whetted satisfyingly or makes viewers turn a blind eye and lose any original interest they had in the film, if any. From this, it is important to grasp the idea that the audience are merciless and as such our opening must begin to slowly increase tension and anticipation levels amongst audience members before accelerating further to a crescendo of tension and excitement from viewers at a later point in the film.

Music is another area that the thriller is dependent upon to make an impression upon viewers. Music and Soundtrack are able to dramatically aid the feelings of sinister suspense, or in some cases, simulate a vast increase in adrenaline rushes from audience members and consequently as a result an increase in excitement levels for the viewer and really aid the audience in expressing emotions such as adrenaline or panic as they will begin to feel more emotion for the characters as through the pace of the music their emotions will become heightened as well as feeling more interwoven and connected to the narritive through the unifying medium of music as they may be drawn towards the narrative through the catchy and pulsating rhythm of the music, for example.

Lighting is a crucial aspect of the thriller genre, as much in the same way as Music or Soundtrack is intended to have an effect on the mood of the film's audience, lighting also does a similar thing for audience members in that it is able to set the mood of the piece; often dark, oppressive and isolated. Lighting will nearly always aid this in that the majority of the film screen at the beginning of a thriller is often shrouded in darkness to effectively sustain and maintain an air of mystery about the opening. Very little light is often seen at the beginning of a film typical of the Thriller genre in order to not give away too much detail at the beginning of the film and perhaps comprimise certain aspects of the film at a later time.

The camerawork used at the beginning of films of the thriller genre is often very slow and deliberate to ensure that audiences are hanging on the edge of their seat in suspense as to what will undoubtedly unfold. Often the camerawork, complemented by the effective use and deployment of lighting will reveal very little to begin with. Indeed, it is not uncommon at the beginning of a Thriller film for a character's face to only be seen in a half light, the other side obscured in darkness or their identity completely obscured from view. Indeed, this is true of the opening of the fourth Harry Potter film, The Goblet of Fire in which the antagonist's face, that of Lord Voldemort, is completely obscured from view in the opening portion of the film in an effort by the director for his identity to remain a mystery, leaving it to the audience's imagination as to what the antagonist looks like. Indeed, the antagonist's face is obscured by the arrangement of a rear facing chair towards the camera and the use of greys, whites and blacks as the colours being used to situate his lair in a luminous light.

With regards to a chase sequence, with this being a main crux point of our film opening, this is typically a thriller aspect that we are implementing into our film opening I feel effectively and will hopefully through the successful implementation of the above areas effectively we are able to produce a hybrid film opening that successfully conforms to the large part of the Codes and Conventions for both parenting genres out of which our new hybrid Social Realistic Thriller, was born.

With these aspects in mind, we will aim to consider what best befits the needs and requirements of our piece and move forward progressively with a plan of action, ensuring that we as a production team aim to conform to the Codes and Conventions of each individual, particular genre in order to create a successful film opening of our new hybrid film.

Planning for the Film Opening Task

Today we generated ideas and collusion's as to what our film opening's basis would take. Having looked favourably towards the two genres of Social Realism and Thriller, and after concluding discussions with the other two members of my group, Zach Nicholls and Ben Marshall, we all agreed on the prospect of creating a new hybrid genre in the form of a Social Realistic Thriller. This idea appealed to us greatly simply for the fact that were we to take this direction with our film opening, although this is a largely favoured option, it would mean combining our two favourite genres and rolling them into one. Also, the idea appealed to us because the idea of creating a new hybrid genre that has never been attempted before excited us further knowing that we could be pioneers of an entirely new and original genre.
Today was also an extremely productive day in the fact that we were able to effectively collaborate to come up with the origins for our storyline for our film opening. Although in it's premature stages, below is an outline of what we are considering for our film opening in terms of narrative and plot development:


• Using film openings such as Trainspotting and chase sequences from action films as inspiration, we’ve decided to combine the two genres of Thriller and Social realism as we feel there is a lot of crossover between the two genres in our opening in order to successfully create a new hybrid genre of a Socially Realistic Thriller.


• At present, our initial idea is to have a drug deal that goes wrong as it is part of a sting operation as the police try and capture a reputable drug dealer providing social realism themes such as drug and substance abuse as well as suspense. Once the Police’s cover is blown, a chase sequence takes place within a forest providing action and suspense and withholding more attributes associated to the thriller genre.    

However, after further discussion we decided that our film opening would serve it's purpose of representation of the working class to a greater effect if we removed the hierarchical structure that may become overtly dominant in the opening if we went  along the idea of an undercover police officer conducting a sting operation as we thought it might perceive and represent those of the working class as 'bad' or 'wrongdoers.' We all agreed however, that the strongest elements of our original pitch were the Vlog section and the forest chase sequence, which will be features of the film opening that are maintained as we feel that these are strong, robust and interesting ideas.

Therefore, we chose to adapt our film opening pitch for the two characters simply to be a dealer and a user and an abuser of drugs. In terms of names for the characters we decided to name the characters quickly but also to give due consideration to the connotations and symbolism a certain name might evoke or what characteristics of a character might become prevalent or prevailing were a character to be assigned a certain name. For the protagonist, we thought  that a commonplace name in everyday circulation was needed but one that is not overtly obvious such as Toby for the user of the drugs and the protagonist. To reflect the dealer's antagonistic features and darker intents we wished to assign him a name that will reflect his rebellious and troublesome streak, such as Creegan as, whilst being obscure and not a very common name we feel that it subtly hints at his darker ambitions as an enterprising, entrepreneurial drug dealer.

Evaluation of the Preliminary Task

I find that it is always important with the benefit of hindsight to look back upon something that has gone before and seek out improvements as to what could have perhaps gone better. Hindsight brings with it benefits of experience and time that has passed since the event. This provides time for due consideration and reflection upon what clearly were the strengths of something and what could have been done to improve the outcome of what went before. I find that evaluating something allows you to cast a critical eye over your work as to what could have been done differently; this is exactly what I aim to do with my preliminary task, whilst as I feel that it mainly was a success there are still aspects of the final product that I would look to perhaps change, build on or strengthen.

 

 I believe that as a whole, the preliminary task was a success as in completing it we fulfilled the aims and mandatory requirements of the task whilst also using the task as a valuable learning tool in which by completing, allowed the whole group to gain both knowledge and understanding of basic media camera techniques as well as editing techniques, so in this regard I think that the task was a success. However, I feel that if I were to produce the task again I would fulfil a number of small changes to the film. The first of these would be to perhaps include a wider array and variety of shots than the ones we originally did, as in doing this, I believe that we could have allowed the narrative and continuity of the story to flow in a smoother way, thereby making the narrative easier to comprehend and follow for a viewer of the piece. There are only minor subtle changes that I would make to the piece if I were to do it again. In the shot- reverse- shot of the man in the black leather jacket’s feet walking towards the camera, a pen can be seen flying through the air in the right hand corner of the shot. Although not clearly visible, unless paying particular attention to the object, it is an annoyance that I would like to see rectified if we were to re-film the piece.

 

 On a more positive note, I was pleased with how we, as a group, met the technical aspect set of requirements. In particular, I was very satisfied with how we shot the part of the sequence where the two card player’s converse with one another as we stuck to the 180 degree rule particularly effectively. This paid particular diligence when editing the scene/clip together  as the scene had a nice flow to it. However, I feel that in some parts of the sequence, the cuts become fairly noticeable and apparent to the viewer. In an ideal world, the cut would be seamless where the fact that the clip has been edited at all is barely noticeable due to the quality and precision of the cut. Also, if we were to re-film the sequence I would consider a more authentic and realistic location for the scene in relation to the context. As the scene is supposedly set in a poker house, if we were to re-film the scene again, I would look at dressing the set in a suitable way to match the requirements of the contextual setting. Having said this, however, I believe that the location in which we chose to set the scene was a good neutral location with minimal background noise which ultimately didn’t detract from the quality of the sequence. I believe that in a positive light the group was very successful at acquiring and practically demonstrating the required skill set and with the noted improvements we would take into account next time, I believe that the Preliminary Task has been a great success, fulfilling its required aims and benefits of acquiring a new set of skills that we can take forward into our main task at a later date.       

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3yMlJ8V91k

Planning for the Preliminary Task

In order for a production to be successful- planning must take place to ensure it to be so. In order to ensure that the task is a success it must fit the parameters and requirements of the Preliminary exercise assignment brief: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

To ensure that the task was a success we, as a group, needed to ensure that we included all of the elements of the preliminary task required by the examination board. To ensure that our task was a success, thereby incorporating the above elements into a scene; we then set about storyboarding a suitable scene and planning out the storyline we wished the preliminary task to adopt. For this aspect of the preliminary task we considered many ideas on a mindmap, originally the task involved a chase sequence. At first, we chose to set our storyline for the scene in this particular way because we thought that it would provide high tension, drama and excitement and these feelings would be evoked from audience members whilst viewing our scene.  However, upon considering the logistical and technical challenges that a sequence of this nature would undoubtedly and inevitably bring, we considered exploring the tension in our scene in another more subtle, less challenging way. With this in mind, we considered various other options that the storyline could take and after deliberating we all concluded to set our scene in a gambling type environment revolving our scene around the contextual situation of a card game. I personally considered this option to be a successful one as after due consideration we realised that the nature of the scene that we planned to do leant itself incredibly well to the more technical elements required of the task.  From this point, we came up with a scene whereby the camera followed the card players taking part in the game to the desired location/ setting of the card game, in this way the technical elements and requirements of the task were able to be fulfilled such as the match on action shot of a character opening a door and then proceeding to walk through it. We also included a shot reverse shot which involved a character walking down a corridor first of all into the camera and then performing a quick cut to a shot of the character continuing his course of direction, but shot from a reverse angle.

For the costumes in our preliminary task, I tried to consider carefully what the two actors/characters would wear for the duration of the short clip.  As part of this decision making process, using my knowledge from the GCSE Media Studies course and study of Semiotic Analysis, I considered the character’s separate personalities and their character archetypes that I wanted to try and communicate to the audience within the short clip. For the first character that is shown in the clip (the man in the black leather jacket) I wished to convey a darker tone to his character, hence the reason for his wearing the black leather coat in an attempt to communicate his  arrogance along with his darker tone and ambition. For the second character in the clip, (the one shown to be wearing the grey hoodie), as this character has a more comical role to play and a lighter personality than that of the first character shown onscreen, I dressed him in slightly lighter apparel in an attempt to communicate this fact to the audience.

Having planned the Preliminary Task in sufficient detail I feel confident that filming went smoothly and efficiently.

Below I have attached a copy of the script that was used for our filming to give guidance, direction and support as to how to best fulfil the aims and requirements of the task.

 

 

Luck of the Draw

(First man shown to be the Challenger walks down staircase)

 (Shot reverse shot of Challenger opening a door and then walking down corridor to where dealer is seated)

 (The two men then proceed to walk towards a room, wherein there is a table and some chairs set up, to show this the two men walk towards the camera, shot reverse shot and then show a match on action shot of the lead man opening the door to the room)

(Show wide shot of one man walking into the room. In the same shot this one man then crosses the room)

(Cut to: wide shot of challenger sitting down at the table and drawing cards. Close up shot of cards being drawn, like lethal and tactical weapons, from concealment holsters.)

1^st Man (nodding to the other two in a menacing and hard stare): You in?

2^nd Man (nodding in agreement): I’m in. I was born ready.

(Two men lock eyes in extreme close up, placing cards and money onto the table.)

(Close up of money being put down on the table and cards being thrown on top of the cash pile)

(Extreme close up of the remaining two men locking eyes, staring each other out. Cut between the two men. Wide shot of a game of cards being played. When challenger loses, close up of his outrage and upset at the result as the dealer collects the money.)

(Show shot reverse shot of dealer leaving the den. Show separate shot of challenger leaving the room in anger, although one wide shot to retain camera smoothness.)

(Fade to black.)

Camera shots required for Preliminary Task

The camera shots required for the Preliminary Task will need to fit the brief and be able to track the movements of the characters in a clear and coherent way, so that the action is able to be followed easily by viewers of our piece.

Some examples of the types of the camera shots that we may use in our piece consist of a wide shot to show the character’s travel of movement in a scene, as during the piece we will be having to follow the guidelines of the 180 degree rule, we will also be using a shot reverse shot to switch between two character’s facial expressions during a conversation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27KCpefUMxU- This video is extremely effective at defining the technicalities of the 180 degree rule and what the effects of doing it correctly are for the viewer, bringing an enhanced sense of understanding to the scene, therefore in turn making it easier to view. Equally, this video also showcases the perils of getting this basic rule wrong and the disastrous effects it can have on the viewers interpretation of a piece of film.

 

We will also be requiring the use of the match on action shot to show close detail in a shot for our preliminary task as this shot allows the audience to gain further depth and detail into what a character is doing as it maximises the level of detail shown to the viewer.

A wide camera shot is most commonly used to show to the viewer a broad or general area where action is taking place in a shot. This shot may be effective in our preliminary task as it shows a vast area including not only the characters but also their surroundings which may be influenced by the context of the situation that the characters find themselves in.

 

Roles for Preliminary Task

As part of the coursework associated with the AS Level Media Studies course, a preliminary task must be created showcasing a variety of camera shots/angles. Hopefully this will provide me with a starting reference point as to my film making and basic editing skills which throughout the course have the potential to be expanded and built upon from the foundation benchmark set within the preliminary task. For the preliminary task to work well and with the desired degree of effectiveness different roles need to be assigned to the various group members, (In my case a group of three) so that there is no sole responsibility burdened upon one individual.

Typically, in a production company there are many roles with one individual an expert in their chosen specialist field of one area of the film making project, however, as our preliminary task is only small the various roles will be spread amongst the group members.

For me, the roles of which I will be focusing my attention are that of script writer, costume designer and location/setting supervisor. The filming and directing rather than being pressured onto the one of us in our three will be co-directed between the three of us as we believe in the three that this approach will in fact work better as three heads typically work better than that of one.

As costume designer, I will need to consider the various archetypes, feelings and attitudes of a certain individual character and focus on translating these ideas into what the character is wearing so that this is not lost on the viewer. I will need to consider semiotics and symbolism as well as denotation and the effects of connotation also.

As script writer I will need to write a clear and concise script that informs the directors as well as the actors, also, one which incorporates the required camera angles/shots.

As location supervisor I will need to think of an imaginative location in which the action of the film sequence will be able to take place and engage the viewer. This will also need to fit the situation and context of the scene.

http://www.film.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/4897/Crew-Roles-and-Departments-Guide.pdf